Media Release
Winnipeg named World’s Most Intelligent Community for 2021
Winnipeg - The City of Winnipeg and Economic Development Winnipeg are excited to share that our city has been chosen by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) as the World’s Most Intelligent Community for 2021.
Winnipeg beat out six other communities across Canada, Australia, Brazil, Russia and Vietnam for the prestigious honour.
“This win has been in the making since 2014. Our city has done a lot of work in that time to make sure we are a more connected, inclusive, engaging, innovative, and sustainable city—one that is making every effort to ensure there are plenty of opportunities for success for anyone who chooses to live and build a life here. We are ecstatic that ICF has recognized all the hard work we have done, and we’re thrilled with this honour,” says City of Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman.
This is another accolade for Winnipeg in 2021, which recently grabbed international and national attention for being named one of the World’s Greatest Places of 2021 by TIME and one of the Top 20 Best Locations to Invest by Site Selection magazine.
“We’re proud that ICF recognized our city for the strides it has made and continues to make. It speaks volumes about what can be achieved in Winnipeg and reinforces this a great place to live, work and build a company,” says Economic Development Winnipeg President & CEO, Dayna Spiring. “We know our strong collaborations across businesses, industry, education and government means positive change can happen quickly. We can credit that to our tight-knit community that repeatedly comes up with innovative ways to solve problems.”
This is the first time Winnipeg has been selected as the Most Intelligent Community by ICF, but it has made the Top7 list three times (2014, 2016, 2018) and was chosen as a Smart21 Community nine times when Winnipeg started developing submissions for the award.
A special thanks to our government, industry, business, and education partners who provided success stories for our submission and virtual site visit including the Province of Manitoba, Sisler High School, RRC Polytechnic, RBC, Bell MTS, North Forge Technology Exchange, Tech Manitoba, Cypher Environmental, The University of Winnipeg (Wii Chiiwaakanak Learning Centre), University of Manitoba (Smart Park), Ubisoft Winnipeg, SkipTheDishes, Payworks, Good Local, Farmers Edge and Bold Commerce.
ICF is headquartered in New York, with community members in 180 cities, metro regions and counties across the world. At the heart of the organization is a think tank that developed a method to identify prosperous, inclusive economies with rich cultures that are thriving amidst massive disruptions in the digital age. For more detailed information on the Intelligent Community Forum, please go to ICF’s website.
About Economic Development Winnipeg Inc.
Economic Development Winnipeg Inc. (EDW) is the city’s lead economic development agency and champion for local growth. We use expert analysis to highlight the Winnipeg Advantage and prove why we are the best place to live, work and visit. Through the Tourism Winnipeg and YES! Winnipeg business development teams, EDW grows the local economy by attracting business, investment, events, meetings and people to our city. EDW is governed by a private-sector board and driven by the needs of the business community. economicdevelopmentwinnipeg.com
-30-
For further information, please contact:
Eleanor Coopsammy
Corporate Creative Communications Manager
Economic Development Winnipeg Inc.
C 431.338.2259
E eleanor@edwinnipeg.com
City of Winnipeg Media Inquiry Line
P 204.986.6000
E city-mediainquiry@winnipeg.ca
